


Rest Easy

by spookyghostcurves



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, Friendship/Love, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-07-19 19:27:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7374445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spookyghostcurves/pseuds/spookyghostcurves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pidge tends to fall asleep all over the castle. When Keith finds them passed out at their desk, he decides to put them to bed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rest Easy

One thing Keith and Pidge had in common, it seemed, was their habit of going to bed. That is, neither of them actually _went to bed_ as much as they fell asleep wherever they happened to run out of energy for the day. Keith, at least, could make it to his room before crashing. But Pidge could drop off anywhere, anytime.  
  
The first time Keith found Pidge, they were slumped over a desk near the Galra crystal that was still aboard the ship. It looked like they’d been trying to clear more of its energy out of the ship’s systems, since Allura and Coran were having trouble on that front. Their laptop was still open, but the screen had long fallen into sleep mode along with its user. Slim fingers still ghosted over the keys, though the brunette’s head was face planted onto the desk’s surface.  
  
Keith gave a small sigh, and put a hand on the other’s shoulder to try and wake them. But before he gave a shake, he remembered the bags under Pidge’s eyes that morning at breakfast. He probably wouldn’t have noticed if Lance hadn’t called attention to them the moment the green paladin took their seat at the table.

 

“Bag check for Pidge’s eyes!” Lance called immediately, leaning in front of Keith to get a better look at them. “Up late partying with the mice again?”  
  
“We can’t all put on hydrating face masks and fall asleep on whim,” they’d teased back, hurriedly changing the subject to ask about their objectives for the day.

 

Maybe it would be best to let the other sleep. They seemed beyond waking anyway. Keith slowly pulled Pidge’s chair back and hooked one arm under their knees, lifting them up with surprising ease. Obviously, Pidge was the smallest member of Team Voltron, but even so Keith hadn’t expected them to be _this_ light. He had a new appreciation for the punch Pidge packed.  
  
Keith carried Pidge all the way back to their room. They were like dead weight in his arms, their head resting heavy in the crook of his elbow. The moment the little one was laid into bed their slim arms snaked around their pillow, hugging it tight to their face and making their glasses creak in dissent. Keith cursed softly, reaching and hesitating once or twice before finally peeling the pillow back just long enough to snatch the frames from Pidge’s nose. They didn’t seem bothered, even as the pillow snapped back into place.  
  
He laid the glasses at the edge of the other’s mattress and gave them a once over. They seemed comfortable, and were already out like a light. So Keith decided to call it a night, shutting the lights off and heading to his own room.  
  
_____________________

 

It’s not like he was expecting a personal thank you or anything, but when Pidge came to breakfast the next morning without so much as _mentioning_ the fact that they’d fallen asleep one place and woken up in another, Keith was a bit disappointed. At least Pidge seemed cheerier than the day before when they slid into their seat at Keith’s side.  
  
“You look well rested,” he observed. The compliment (?) took Pidge by surprise, the small paladin giving Keith a questioning look. For a moment he worried that was too weird, that taking notice of someone else’s eye puff levels would put them off. But as soon as the expression came, it was gone. “I slept like a baby last night! It was the first time in a while, I guess.”  
  
They reached to take a few spoonfuls of food goo, which Hunk had taken the time to shape into eggs and bacon. (It had been a while since they stopped off at any planets with vegetation, so the resident gourmet had taken to visual cues to make it taste better in lieu of spices.) “I feel great! I’m going to get a lot done today, I can tell,” Pidge chirped, flashing Keith a little smile before digging in.

_____________________

 

That night, Keith went out on his second Pidge roundup.  
  
It was trickier than the night before – Pidge wasn’t in the green lion’s hangar, the control room, or the galley. Keith really had to scratch his head about that one, wondering where else they could be. It didn’t take too much wandering before he stumbled upon them – specifically, he rounded a corner and nearly tripped over their outstretched legs.  
  
“The hallway? Seriously?” he mused aloud, looking at Pidge seated right beneath one of the hall’s glowing lights, head down and laptop resting on their thighs. He gave the other a little nudge with his foot to make sure they were really out before easing their laptop shut. This was going to be a tricky maneuver.  
  
Keith held the laptop under one arm as he bent down to lift Pidge up, having to lover himself into a squat to manage it. This time as he walked, Pidge’s head fell into place against Keith’s shoulder. He could feel their breath against his neck as he walked. It was a weirdly pleasant sensation, especially combined with the scent of Pidge’s shampoo and the occasional brush of their messy locks against his cheek. The walk flew by and he was soon standing at Pidge’s bedside, reluctant to put the little one down.

 

Just like before, Pidge was quick to latch onto their pillow. It took a repeat viewing, but Keith placed why the sight was familiar – whenever they were startled, Pidge had a tendency to do the same to whoever happened to be the closest. Maybe they felt safest when they had someone to hold onto. It was a cute sentiment, though not one that Keith could relate to. Affections like that – being wrapped up in someone else’s hold, feeling another person’s warmth against him – were still strange to him, even after the months of Hunk hugs and the occasional Team Voltron dog pile.

 

Keith rescued Pidge’s glasses again and glanced around, spotting the laptop’s charger nearby. He plugged the device in and set it down, figuring Pidge would appreciate it. He even went as far as removing the other’s shoes and tugging a sheet over them this time. Whether it was purely for Pidge’s comfort or so that the other might take notice, he tried not to think about. Once they were all bundled up and resting easy, he headed for the door, giving Pidge a lingering look before he hit the lights.

 

_____________________

 

“Good morning, everyone!”

 

Pidge’s sunny expression and greeting took the whole team by surprise. Even Shiro gave the brunette a concerned look as they took their seat. “Well, time to suit up, someone kidnapped Pidge and replaced them with a cheery imposter,” Lance said with mock urgency, pushing his chair back from the table.  
  
“Very funny. You’d be surprised what a few hours of good sleep can do. Look! My shoulders aren’t even doing that creaking thing they usually do in the morning!” Pidge said giving their shoulders a roll to show off their silence. Keith perked up in his seat, waiting for a “Whoever tucked me in last night, thank you! I really owe you one! Can you do that every night?”  
  
But none came.  
  
Pidge took their seat and helped themself to a plate of toast-shaped goo.  
  
Keith thought he was moping, but no one else seemed to notice anything was off, so maybe he was just acting the way he always acted. It would still be a few days before they reached their next target – a planet that was home to a few Galra work camps they intended to liberate – so they were all preparing in their own way. Allura and Coran worked on beefing up the castle’s defenses, Shiro worked on a plan of attack, Hunk gave all the lions a diagnostics check up and repaired the minor damage that each had accumulated in recent missions, and Lance… well. Lance played around in the blue lion for most of the day.

 

Meanwhile, Keith took to the training area, battling training bots just as he usually did in his free time. As the only paladin with a strictly melee bayard, falling out of practice could be a deadly mistake. He was just about to pass level three when a tiny voice called out to him from the doorway.  
  
“Keith? Do you have a minute?” Pidge asked, leaning against the arena’s doorframe as if they’d been standing there for a while.  
  
“Yeah, just a second.”  
  
He ended the session and wiped beads of sweat from his forehead as he approached the other, noticing that they seemed a bit tense.  
  
“Is something wrong?”

 

“No.”  
  
They fiddled with their glasses for a moment, pushing them up the bridge of their nose. Why were they stalling like that? Keith must have really fucked up. He should have known that Pidge needed their space; that he should have just woken them up and let them walk back to bed.  
  
“I was just… wondering. If you could give me a few tips in here. About fighting, and stuff. I’ve been winging it until now, and I know eventually that won’t cut it. You’re in here all the time, I figured you’d be the guy to ask.”

 

His worries were gone in an instant, replaced by an eagerness he was quick to hide.

 

“Oh. If that’s all, you didn’t have to be so cryptic, sheesh.” He rubbed at the back of his neck. “Do you want to practice with your bayard or more hand-to-hand stuff?”

 

“I think hand-to-hand would be better. In case I get disarmed.”  
  
“Right. Yes. Okay. Then we’ll need these,” Keith said, heading to a pile of sparring mats and tugging one down.

 

Pidge gingerly stepped up onto it, putting up their dukes with a toothy grin. “Don’t go easy on me, alright?”  
  
Suddenly Keith’s face felt very hot and he didn’t know why.  
  
“You got it,” he managed, though he suspected any longer response would have been accompanied by a voice crack.  
  
They trained together until lunchtime. Keith kept to Pidge’s wishes, coming for them as if he was fighting Shiro. In other words, Pidge ended up knocked down and pinned relentlessly for the first hour of training. But they never gave up, and eventually managed to use Keith’s weight against him, letting him flatted chest-down on the mat before they tossed themself onto his back.  
  
“Got you that time!” they said triumphantly, more to boost themselves up than to gloat to Keith. The red paladin chuckled at that, giving Pidge a few seconds to celebrate before shaking them off his back. After a few more rounds of sparring, Pidge was red in the face and seemed pretty worn out, arms and legs spread as they sprawled out on the mat.  
  
“You ready to call it?” Keith asked, leaning down to offer the other his hand.  
  
They nodded and took it, hopping up onto their feet and giving a long stretch. “Thanks for that. Wanna go grab something to eat? I’m sure Hunk has finished sculpting us something tasty by now.”  
  
The two of them snickered as they made their way back to the galley. The smile didn’t leave Keith’s face for the rest of the afternoon.

 

_____________________

 

Pidge was nowhere to be found.

 

Keith was starting to worry as he searched all the usual spots, including the hallway where he’d found Pidge the night before. It was an irrational fear – they hadn’t stopped anywhere all day, it’s not like they could have abandoned the ship. A million possibilities entered his mind – kidnapping, accidentally falling into one of cryo-pods, food poisoning.

 

He was headed back to the barracks to get Shiro to help him look, when he saw that the door to Pidge’s room was wide-open, lights on. He hurried over and heaved a sigh of relief when he found Pidge curled up on the floor, lying on his side with his laptop in front of him.  
  
“You were so close,” Keith chuckled, picking the other up and setting them into bed. This time they didn’t grab their pillow, or move at all. They were eerily still.  
  
Keith turned to see to the laptop again, and Pidge’s shoes, saving the glasses for last. This time, when he reached out to pluck them off, Pidge rolled onto their side, putting them a bit out of reach.  
  
“C’mon, you’re gonna mess them up,” he muttered to his sleeping counterpart, leaning into the bunk a bit to try and rescue the frames.  
  
The arms sliding around his waist drew a startled gasp from Keith’s lips.  
  
“Relax, relax!” Pidge cooed, rolling onto his back again to offer a sleepy smile. Keith’s cheeks were burning again and he tried to straighten up. “H-How long have you been awake?”  
  
“This time I was faking it. Last night I was kinda going in and out,” they admitted, arms lingering around the other to keep him from leaving.  
  
Keith was sweating.  
  
“It’s really nice of you, so… thanks,” Pidge said at last, pulling him down into a clumsy hug. Keith wasn’t sure what to do with his hands at first, wasn’t sure what form of affection or reciprocation was appropriate.  
  
“Last night you really took your time. It was like you didn’t want to leave,” Pidge observed quietly.  
  
Keith swallowed thickly, carefully considering his words.  
  
“I hadn’t been getting much sleep either,” he began, thankful that the other couldn’t see his face. “But seeing you all bundled up and asleep, it sorta… I don’t know. Helped.”  
  
He was trying. He really was. But the right words just didn’t want to come out.  
  
Thankfully, Pidge was someone who could understand that.  
  
“Well, if you think it’ll help you sleep, you can stay. If you want. The only rule is I get to be big spoon,” they said, loosening their hold to let Keith up.  
  
He tilted his head to one side, clearly perplexed. “What’s ‘big spoon’?”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Critique is appreciated!


End file.
